Only Human
by Nitefallen
Summary: Ending up in the world of RWBY doesn't mean you have to be in Beacon. Or even be human. But being an android seemed close enough. SI / OC as Penny's Sister. Set before canon starts. Hiatus
1. Chapter 1 - Crimson

**AN:** Salutations! (Did you read that in Penny's voice?) I've had this idea for a RWBY fanfiction for the longest time but had never really gotten around to writing it... Until I heard about Monty's passing. I won't say things that have already been said to death but what I will do is dedicate this story in memory of Monty Oum.

This is my very first RWBY fanfiction and my second ever fanfiction, so I would greatly appreciate any advice, be it on how to improve on what I lack or what I'm doing right and should keep doing.

This is a Self Insert / Original Character fanfiction and I don't think there are that many of these in the RWBY fanfiction so I thought I'll have a try at it :D  
Also, I would like to promise you that while the main character _will be strong _simply due to her circumstances, raw strength doesn't always get you everywhere... nor is it always good...

Unfortunately, I am pretty busy with school + the fact that I would rather take more time to make a better chapter so updates may be pretty slow.

Bear in mind that since this was written when up till RWBY Volume 2 ended and very little actual info about Remnant is available, so there may be clashes with the world-building I will be doing and the canon RWBY story, so if that happens you can treat this as an AU-ish story.

Enjoy!

* * *

"**I believe that the human spirit is indomitable. If you endeavor to achieve, it will happen given enough resolve. It may not be immediate, and often your greater dreams is something you will not achieve within your own lifetime. The effort you put forth to anything transcends yourself, for there is no futility even in death.**" - Monty Oum

* * *

**Only Human Chapter 1**

* * *

Dying hurts.

Ehh, its quite painful. You don't just painlessly drift off into oblivion. Nope. Especially if you happened to die due to massive internal bleeding.

So you must be wondering how would I know? Did I die?

I'll get to that later, I promise.

* * *

So here's a little more about myself. I'm a naturally quiet girl, you know, the one that just sits in one corner and does their own thing.

My friends think I'm shy, but I think I simply enjoy the peace and quiet (nope. Definitely not shy... Right?). Whats the point of talking just for the sake of talking?

Of course their opinion changed a fair bit after a certain incident. So there was this group of bullies, who were picking on my friends...

I know what you're thinking, that I would go over to the bullies and either **a**. Beat the crap out of them. **b**. I went over and gave them a furious tongue-lashing.

I didn't do either of those. I simply walked over and pinned the lead bully in place with a cold glare, before using a polite tone to inform them that I had caught everything on camera. And _of course_ the leader would try to grab the phone.

They quickly ran after the leader tried to punch me and failed, since I had slipped within the arc of his punch and got him in an elbow lock and spun him into the ground. I blame the adrenaline and the self-defense courses I took, cause I was pretty scared actually.

My heart was pounding the whole time. So even as I stuttered out a 'it was nothing' (no I'm not shy, just... shocked, Yeah. Shocked.) my friends would conclude that under my shy exterior was an edge of steel. I promptly ducked my head and ran away. (It was a tactical decision!)

* * *

I guess this the part where I talk about my... Passing. Pardon me if its brief, but eh, I'm not really comfortable talking about it.

So it involved a ball and a road.

So my friends and I were stupidly passing the ball as we walked along the road, when it slipped out of my grasp and rolled onto the road.

So like any sane person, I left it there. I mean, that road was so busy! (you thought I was going to get it didn't you!)

Unfortunately, someone else didn't. A young boy ran after the ball, heedless of the oncoming traffic.

Even before I processed it, i had pushed the boy out of the way and got nailed by a few tons of steel.

Was it stupid? Absolutely. Brave? Maybe. Suicidal? Yep.

But I couldn't just let the boy die.

_I just couldn't._

After a few minutes of the worst pain I had ever experienced, i died.

So now I was floating in some black void. As its name implies, it was completely empty, no stairs, no gates, no judgments. It was just _nothing_.

Then something _weird_ happened.

Text started randomly appearing in front of me.

**[Project Crimson: Startup sequence Initiated]**

**[Dust core at full charge]**

**[Safeties off. Aligning tributaries.]**

**[Dust core stabilizing…]**

**[Dust core stabilized]**

**[Dust core linked to aura synthesizers]**

**[Initiating aura synthesis]**

That was when my body started glowing brightly, even as it started to dissolve, starting from my toes.

**[WARNING! Aura influx detected. Scale: Class 7]**

**[WARNING! AURA CENTRE OVERLOAD IMMINENT!]**

**[Manual Directive issued: spreading aura to other areas.]**

**[ERROR! Logic core altered!]**

**[Restructuring logic core for optimal results…]**

**[Restructuring…]**

**[Restructuring complete. Estimated boost in performance: 70%]**

**[Aura fully stabilised. Aura appears to have unknown effects on frame. Proceed?]**

By then my body had fully dissolved but I could still see the lines of text.

**[Affirmation acknowledged.]**

**[Olfactory sensors online.]**

A clinical, sterile smell, assaulted my nose.

**[Textile sensors online. Temperature sensors online.]**

It was cold. Hard and Cold.

And… My body felt cold, way colder than I thought possible.

**[Auditory sensors online.]**

Faint murmurings filled my ears and i wished that I could hear what they were talking about. To my immense surprise, my hearing immediately sharpened.

"-neral, that was unexpected."

"True. But it paid off. It paid off very well."

A sigh. "The council won't like this. You know how much they hate anomalies. Especially since-"

"The council will do what is best for themselves. Let them come."

A Pause.

A note of exasperation entered his voice as he continued, "Fine, I will—"

I didn't hear the rest of the sentence as another line appeared.

**[Visual sensors online. Complete sensor package activated.]**

I blinked.

And then blinked again.

Because surrounding the edge of my vision was some sort of Heads Up Display, and it seemed to point out areas I was focusing on.

Then suddenly _I knew_… I knew things I couldn't have possibly known.

Like how the ceiling was triple layered and heavily reinforced. Like how there was a circular _dust?_ barrier that could be activated anytime to trap whatever was lying on the metal table. Like the code required to unlock the doors of this… Lab? Or even the heartbeat rates of all the people in the room.

Only there seemed to be a _slight_ problem.

I didn't have a heartbeat.

_What?_

Upon my query, a piece of information popped into my mind…

And. It. Made. Me. Freeze.

As if I had finally found the missing puzzle piece, it suddenly made sense.

The lines of text. The random _knowing_ of things. The senses no human should have.

My senses were like that, precisely because _I wasn't human_.

Where there should have been blood and muscles, there were only circuits and motors.

Where there should have been a heart, there was only a dust core.

Every inch of my internal body was inorganic, composed out of technology so complex, I couldn't even began to fathom how it was made. How _I_ was made.

I was some kind of mechanical construct, a robot, if you will.

Ehh... I think its pretty understandable that I would be extremely confused.

I mean dying and then waking up as an android is pretty scary.

A sudden piece of information made me pause and rescan the individuals in the room again and then do it one more time.

_Nonononononono_

It wasn't possible, it_ just wasn't_.

I turned to face them and my eyes widened.

Because standing in front of me, were General Ironwood, Penny Polendina and Dr. Polendina.

I tilted my head to the side and tried to calculate the chances of me somehow being in RWBY. Apparently, my mind took it literally and 3 seconds later, I was done calculating. The chances were... Not good. At all.

"Crimson? Are you alright?", Dr. Polendina questioned, a hint of worry in his voice.

What? Crimson? Oh... My new name. It was alright... I guess...

My revelation _should have_ left me distraught. I _shouldn't have_ been in the right frame of mind to even answer.

And yet answer I did. I found myself automatically answering in a cool, crisp tone, devoid of any emotion.

"Yes, I am alright," And as an afterthought I added, "Father. Thank you for your concern."

It was cold, mechanical and _so unlike me._

However, Dr. Polendina seemed satisfied enough, if the grin on his face was any indication.

Then Penny approached me, in her own shy and unique way, head tilted down and shuffling towards me, before she blurted out.

"Willyoupleasebemyfriend?"

* * *

_Earlier..._

Penny looked at her Father's newest creation, wondering how she would be like? Would she like her or not? What if she hated her? What if she didn't want to be friends? What if…?

"Calm down Penny! It'll be ok!"

She was beautiful, Penny decided. Her eyes, the colour of her namesake Crimson, were wide and expressive, while her pale yellow hair framed her face in just the right way, with short bangs on the sides and one running down between her eyes. The rest of her hair cascaded over her shoulders, coming to rest around the small of her back. Crimson was clad in a silverish-grey skintight body suit, with glowing red blips of light travelling through the lines in the suit indicating that it was performing diagnostics.

Her features were perfect, almost to the point of it being unnatural.

When Crimson turned to look at Penny, her expression remained unchanged, though her eyes widened for a second, before it was gone as quickly as it had came, leaving Penny wondering if she had truly seen it.

Penny felt a comforting hand on her shoulder and she turned to see her Father smiling reassuringly at her, before gesturing towards Crimson.

So Penny shuffled towards her and before she could lose her nerve, blurted out a mumbled, "Willyoupleasebemyfriend?"

* * *

"No."

Penny's expression fell and she seemed to melt into ground even as a tangible aura of depression formed around her.

Before I continued, trying to use my most warm and reassuring tone.

"No Penny, I won't just be your friend. Because we are already siblings. And the bond we share is so much more than just friends. It means we are two halfs of a single whole."

Then I hugged her.

Though my tone still had a mechanical edge to it, it was definitely more normal, definitely had more feeling.

I always had a soft spot for Penny when I watched RWBY. Despite being some sort of super robot, she still had that child-like innocence and loyalty to her friends. And things like that were to be treasured if you considered that RWBY was essentially a world where people were hunted and killed constantly by monsters for no apparent reason. In fact, if the show had been more Grimm (God damn it Barb!) it could have possibly resembled Attack on Titan. The parallels were all there. So what reason did I have to not be an encouraging... sister? to Penny.

"Her thinking is surprisingly profound and mature... Did you program this in?"

"I've always thought that it would be good for Penny to have someone to talk to, so I did make Crimson's logic module a priority. But if you're implying that this was scripted response, then no. This is all her."

"That's... Interesting."

I resisted the urge to bite my lip as my enhanced hearing picked up on their quiet conversation. Which I wondered how could they possibly forget? Weren't they the ones for built me?

Back to the topic at hand, the more I thought about it, the more serious the repercussions of being seen as too intelligent and too human, became. Eh... I wasn't dumb. I was built to carry out a purpose. What purpose, i wasn't quite sure yet, but I was a machine, something built to serve.

And people were naturally wary when their tools became smarter than them.

Plus it could raise some inconvenient questions especially if they compared me with Penny who could sometimes be the very definition of social awkwardness.

Whelp, I decided, it wasn't like acting like a robot wasn't hard, in fact it was the opposite. It was my new nature and I had to actually make an effort to do otherwise.

I gently pried off the clinging Penny, before approaching General Ironwood.

I smiled slightly before snapping off a sharp salute.

"General Ir-"

That was as far as I got before the door blew in with a tremendous blast that shook the room.

For a moment all was quiet.

Then all hell broke loose as a stream of fire poured through the door, straight at our small group.

I was roughly slammed to the ground as General Ironwood tackled me out of the line of fire and I thanked my lucky stars that this body was way more durable than my previous one.

We quickly regrouped with Dr. Polendina and Penny under the cover of an overturned table, with the latter skillfully deflecting the hail of bullets with her array of swords.

I was scared, no scratch that,_ I was terrified._ I had been a student in my past life and had absolutely zero experience with such situations.

All of this was real. The rounds screaming past my head, the shaking of the upturned table as bullets slammed into it. RWBY ceased being a show, _this was real_ and my life was being threatened.

And I didn't want to die again.

"Crimson. Look at me. Your sister and I are going to handle the attackers, so you need to stay here and protect your father. Is that okay Crimson? Can you do that for me?"

I nodded numbly. Stay here and hide? I could do that.

Then a small black orb came arcing over the table, rolling to a stop beside me.

"SCATTER!" Ironwood roared.

However, even as I leapt away from the grenade, I knew I was in a bad spot, being the closest the grenade and likely well within its blast radius.

With a flare of blinding light and deafening sound, the grenade detonated.

But there was no explosive force or shrapnel.

_A flashbang, an explosive that utilises high intensity light and sound to incapacitate and disorientate, _my mind helpfully provided once again. So that explained why I was unaffected, since I could block out the excess light and sound.

That was worrying. They wanted us alive, _but for what reason_?

Spotting a dazed looking Dr. Polendina, I grabbed him by the arm before racing through a door into a side room and locking it behind us.

We found ourselves in some lab storage room.

Scanning the room, I realised that there was nothing to barricade the door with, but I did manage to find a metal bar as a makeshift weapon.

I could still hear the muffled explosions and screams coming from outside as the battle raged on.

This led to my second question, _Who_ exactly was attacking us? In my frenzied state, I hadn't managed to get a glimpse of our attackers.

I had my suspicions though.

The White Fang member that demolished the door confirmed my guess.

A lean muscular faunas, he dragged his war axe behind him, metal scraping against the cold stone floor. Judging from his battle worn appearance, this was no ordinary grunt.

I tensely positioned myself protectively in front of father, metal bar held upright.

"Don't come any closer!"

The White Fang member took one look at me and chuckled darkly.

"A little girl trying to be a hero?" He pointed his axe at me before continuing, "Here's a lesson for you, _there are no such things as heroes_. The weak are the meat which the strong will feast upon."

"And right now you're the meat."

His axe easily cleaved the metal bar into half before he used the flat side of his axe to send me flying into the wall.

As I slid down the cracked wall, he approached me, axe raised overhead to deal a decapitating blow.

_NO! _

_IdontwanttodieIdontwanttodieIdontwanttodieIdontwanttodie_

**[Combat mode engaged. 23 Hostiles detected. Determining course of action.]**

**[Course of action determined. Hostiles threat level: High. Elimination protocols engaged.]**

My hand shot out, grabbing the shaft of the axe, stopping it a few inches from my neck.

A look of surprise appeared on the White Fang member's face even as his left fist followed up with a punch.

My right hand caught it mid motion before I _twisted_ and with a sickening _crunch_, his wrist snapped.

"Your statement is in error."

I swept his leg out from under him, causing him to meet the floor with a loud _THUD!_

"Correction: You are the meat."

My calm voice didn't waver as my foot crushed his throat and I watched dispassionately as he expired.

_1 down. 22 more to go._

* * *

As _The_ _General_ for the Atlas military, James Ironwood was not a man easily provoked. He believed in logical and decisive actions that gave his enemies no room for quarter, executed in a cold methodical fashion. And yet, his turbulent emotions were threatening to slip through his iron control.

_The White Fang had somehow managed to get inside one of the most secure buildings in all of Atlas and even managed to sneak in a number of strike teams._

And now they were threatening his chief engineer and his child.

It didn't matter that he was way above their level, they were just sturdy enough to prevent him from dropping them like flies.

And. They. Just. Kept. Coming.

He and Penny couldn't keep this up forever, sooner or later someone would get past them and to make matters worse, security wasn't responding to his calls through his cybernetic implant.

The challenge wasn't beating them, _that_ he could do easily. The difficult part came in when he had to keep them away from Crimson and Polendina, especially when they outnumbered them badly.

One of the leaders, a faunas wielding a war axe, motioned rapidly to the other White Fang members.

Ironwood narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly, a group faunas broke away, coming at him in a wedge formation.

He ducked under as a sword sliced the air above him, before kneeing the sword wielder in the stomach and dropping him with a downwards elbow strike.

The other four faunas circled him warily before they seemed to close in on him, only to pull back at the last second.

_Something was wrong._

His fears were confirmed when the axe-wielding leader came barreling towards him at an incredible speed, glowing brightly.

_Some sort of charging semblance._ The other four were probably meant to box him in.

He leapt away, spin kicking a faunas that was in the way.

To his surprise, the leader just kept charging away from him. _Towards the room where __**they**__ were hiding in._

Shit.

The door shattered with one swing of his axe and the leader walked in.

Ironwood ducked and weaved through the crowd of faunas. **He would get there in time**. They would be fine. He didn't even bother to consider failure.

A silver blur sped out and... kicked? a white fang member into the wall, where he slumped down from the cracked wall.

_What?_

The blur revealed itself to be Crimson, her hair flowing behind her as she wielded a war axe half the size of her as if it were a mere toothpick.

Then she was across the battlefield cutting down White Fang members with a deadly grace, axe making deadly arcs through the air. Each strike was lethal and she didn't miss. Not once.

'That must be her combat mode… Polendina wasn't exaggerating when he said it was effective.' Ironwood mused grimly.

Between the 3 of them, the remaining members were quickly routed, with 4 taken alive.

_THUNK!_

The bloodstained axe carved a furrow into the ground as it was dropped.

Crimson looked like she had showered in red, and the irony wasn't lost on him.

Then she sank to her knees and her shoulders started shaking violently.

* * *

_Drip! Drip! Splat!_

The drops of blood dripped from the tips of her now red hair, painting the floor a deep shade of crimson.

It had been surreal.

Like a dream, where she was only an observer.

Where she had watched as she ruthlessly eliminated those threatening her.

Her hands clenched and she wanted nothing but to sob uncontrollably. But she couldn't. She lacked tear ducts.  
_'And a heart'_ she wanted to add.

* * *

Snow swirled around her as she stood at the edge of the balcony, overlooking the magnificent snow covered mountains of Atlas. It was a breathtaking scenery, but Crimson didn't pay the least bit of attention it was due.

She was a murderer.

And she didn't know what to think about it.

She had killed 12 people today and she knew that her hands would never be clean, just as how her memories of it would haunt her forever.

Admittedly, they had been trying to kill her and she had acted in self-defense but she still couldn't shake the feeling it was wrong, especially when she had cut them down in cold blood.

Argh! She was just so confused!

Then there was this whole situation. She had died and been reborn in the fictional world of RWBY.

The very idea of reincarnation was _absurd_, but reincarnating into a world that didn't _exist_ was even more so.

She had already accepted the fact, that _yes,_ somehow she was here but that didn't make it any better.

She had nearly been killed a few moments after her '_birth_' and she had no intentions of dying again, so she _had to_ take stock of the situation.

The problem about being in RWBY was that it was very new and she had only watched the first 2 volumes of it so far. She knew nothing about the overall plot, motive of the villains or even that much about the world of Remnant.

And RWBY was not such a nice world. Put in one mysterious and deadly force of monsters that killed humanity indiscriminately, forcing them to be confined to 4 major kingdoms and then adding, in said kingdoms, a deep-rooted racial conflict and discrimination between faunas and humans and you could have a very very bad situation. Eh... and there happened to be some dangerous bad guys trying to fulfil their own agenda by spreading chaos in the kingdoms?

Remnant could be a downright mean place.

And she had experienced it firsthand.

_Chrrrunk!_

Crimson gingerly removed her hand from the balcony railing, eyeing the handprint shaped indent, before resolving to deal with it later.

Hopefully, a _long long _time later.

Crimson took a deep calming breath— it didn't matter that she didn't _actually _need to —in an effort to sooth her jumbled thoughts.

Opening her hands, she allowed snowflakes to drift into them, feeling the chill. She wore a red-trimmed, white cloak over her silver bodysuit but it was more for appearances. The cold didn't bother her anyway.

A particular snowflake caught her attention.

12-sided and formed with intricate patterns, it was beautiful.

It was also the symbol of the Schnee dust company.

Her hand closed around the snowflake; before she spun on her heel and walked towards the exit, cloak billowing behind her.

If she was going to live here, then _she needed answers._

* * *

**AN:** Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Rate &amp; Review to get an imaginary cookie!

Crimson may seem a bit overpowered but that's because she was built with Remnant's most advanced technology and is some sort of super robot... More will be explained later. Plus she wasn't exactly facing top-notch opponents.

So why did she kill instead of just knocking out? In RWBY people are way tougher, thanks to aura. Knocking out someone becomes no longer easy nor reliable. I mean just look at Yang, she got thrown _really_ hard and she was back on her feet after a few seconds. Or Weiss. She got chainsawed and was well enough to form an ice shield moments later. (These 2 examples take place in episode 11: No Brakes)


	2. Chapter 2 - Information

**AN:** Hiya, here's chapter 2, this chapter contains a fair bit of world building and Crimson pondering things but Fear Not! the next chapter shall have some action :D (There is a short teaser at the bottom)

Thank you for the favs, follows and reviews! They really encourage and motivate me to continue the story. Thank you **BlazefireDrago**, **Vangour**, **Drow79 **(I like your story), **MajesticHippo**, **Xenocanaan**, **chaosrin** for reviewing. I definitely appreciate (and read) them even if I don't always manage to respond to them.

As usual I would appreciate any advice, since this is only my 2nd fanfic.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Only Human Chapter 2**

* * *

It was quiet, with the only sounds being those of my footsteps and the soft '_shwish'_ sounds the automated doors would make as they parted in front of me.

_Then again, it was 2am in the morning._

Being an android meant that I didn't need any sleep. Actually, I was _pretty_ sure I didn't need stuff like air, water and food either.

After the attack, I was given a quick debrief, which mainly consisted of what exactly had happened and how I needed to be careful. They didn't exactly state _why_ I needed as much _how_ I should be more careful but it didn't take a genius to figure out why.

Firstly, the building had been compromised once already, what was there to say that it couldn't happen a second time? Worst still, the circumstances that had allowed the White Fang to gain entrance were… suspicious, to say the least. They had managed to sneak in by uploading a virus which had managed to take the security system within a few minutes, while avoiding detection. Either they had gotten hold of an exceptionally brilliant computer expert (mind you the security was built by the best minds in Remnant) or something _very_ _fishy_ was going on.

Secondly, they had known exactly _when _and _where_ to target. It was unclear who or what exactly they were targeting, but I wasn't sure what was worse:

Possibly having the White Fang actively gunning for me or the fact that there was most likely a bad information leak at best and a spy amidst us at worst.

But it was just conjecture at this point. If there had been a spy, he or she had been _very_ good, because there hadn't even been a single indication of _any_ espionage.

I was unsettled, but I had agreed to let General Ironwood handle the situation… It wouldn't be good for me to go around scaring off the probable spy by sniffing around too much.

I was broken out of my reverie when a pair of feet appeared in front of me.

I stopped and looked up.

* * *

"Hi Penny... Not sleeping?"

Much like me, Penny didn't need to sleep at all, however, she did occasionally need recharges and would plug into a terminal and go into stasis mode. Penny mentioned that she often did it even if she had plenty of power left since she was so bored.

It made sense I supposed, someone as energetic as her _would_ feel pretty lonely with no one to talk to.

"Nope sis, I was bored and kinda wanted to talk to you... If thats alright with you, I mean..."

I took the cold logical part of my mind that was protesting that I had no time nor need for this conversation and ruthlessly pushed it out of my mind, shouting "Nobody asked you!" as I slammed the door on it.

_Yeah, _I have a vivid imagination...

Then I hugged her (again).

I mean Penny seemed like the person that would need a lot of hugs... And she happened to be cute... And adorable...

But jokes aside, Penny's self confidence was non-existent when it came to dealing with those who she liked. When she interacted with strangers she would be her cheerful and awkward self, however, when it came to those who opinions truly mattered to Penny, she would be more shy and hesitant.

It was probably because her friends meant the world to her.

I ruffled her hair affectionately (which was quite a challenge, considering I wasn't that much taller than her) and answered.

"Of course my little angel, though you know that you don't need to ask for permission right?"

Angel? Oh that must have slipped out… I used to call my little sis angel since she was so cute and kind... _I wonder how she's doing… I miss her so so much..._

"Awesome! There's just one thing though..."

I tilted my head curiously.

"What is it Penny?"

"I'm not an angel."

I sweatdropped.

"Oh. Erm... It's a form of endearment, Penny. Like when someone who loves you gives you an affectionate nickname."

Penny seemed to ponder it for a moment.

"Does that make you a big angel? Cause that would be awesome and cool-"

"I'm not sure if it works that way Penny..."

"-and it'll be sweet! So I can call you that right?"

"You know, I don't think thats such a good idea... "

"Pretty _please_?" Penny pleaded, her eyes wide and shiny from the full force of the puppy dog look she was bringing to bear on me.

I covered my eyes with my hand and looked away.

Must... Resist...

After a moment of silence, I cracked a gap between my fingers and peered out.

If anything Penny's eyes only seemed to _widen even further_.

_Was that even possible?_

I groaned.

"Fine. But you should only call me th-"

—Before I was promptly glomped by Penny, both of us falling to the ground with a _THUNK!_

_'She sure picks up fast...'_ I thought wryly.

"Yay! Big angel sis!"

"Hey um, lil angel I have some important things to do now... Maybe we can talk tomor— later today?"

"Aww... " Penny gave me one last pleading look but I gently shook my head.

"Alright then. I'll see you later sis!"

As Penny walked off, I eyed the vaguely human-shaped dent on the metal floor before I quickly walked off.

_I didn't see anything._

* * *

"Level 17: Facility Library," The lift announced with a soft chime.

The lift doors parted and I stepped out, feeling a draft of cold air breeze by me.

Steel gray bookshelves lined the aisles while in the centre, there was a circular data terminal where the librarians usually sat. The central terminal was surrounded by other smaller terminals arrayed in a circle, black screens indicating they were not in use.

Predictably, the library looked empty under the dimmed lights and a quick scan confirmed it.

_Let's see... Main server access point... Ah, there it is._

Walking over to the librarian's desk, I easily vaulted over it, before settling comfortably into the plush chair.

My hand glided across the smooth steel and a screen flared into existence.

[ID: _ Password: _ ]

I frowned.

_Troublesome._

Then again, if there hadn't been any security... I'd be _seriously worried_.

Let's see, how to access the main server...

'_I'll need to directly interface with the system first.'_

Hmm… Ah! That would do nicely.

I rested my hand over the scroll scanner of the terminal and _reached_ out mentally.

**[Link established]**

**[Welcome to the Atlas Library central database, please state the title you seek]**

I easily bypassed the meagre defences on the computer to gain access to the Library database. But that wasn't what I was after... I needed to have access to the main database in order to find the _answers_ I needed.

I needed to know how things worked here, how dust, aura and semblance all functioned as well as general information on anything Remnant, really. Even RWBY's World of Remnant series had been remarkably information scarce, especially for a series dedicated to world building.

More importantly, I needed information concerning Project CRIMSON, what was its purpose? What was I? In RWBY, there hadn't been any mention of me, only Penny and she had been the first synthetic entity to generate aura. So was I the second? Third? Was I the prototype or the refined version?

Then there was Aura. Aura was said to be connected to your soul, which was why Machines and Grimm normally didn't have any. I remembered the way my body seemed to dissolve in that void... Was it my soul entering Crimson's body? I wasn't sure, but I intended to find out.

Why didn't I just ask General Ironwood or my Father? It was much easier and much less risky... But it wouldn't yield the info I needed.

I mean I had been operational for less than 1 day, who would entrust sensitive info to me?

_I certainly wouldn't_. Plus, how would I explain the whole reincarnation thing?

**[Connected to Atlas central database. Beginning verification process.]**

_This _was where it would start to get tricky.

The main database appeared to be protected layers over layers of firewalls, with all of them shifting and changing randomly, while there appeared to be some kind of code that eliminated any foreign program it detected.

Remnant's technology was actually fairly similar to Earth's technology, or rather what earth's technology c_ould_ look like after a few decades or so. But other than that, Remnant technology was a lot more… _crisp_ and _efficient_, for lack of better words. It was very practical and I supposed that was the result of the _unique_ circumstances.

On both Remnant and Earth technology was used to better life, whether extending it, making it easier, more comfortable or more secure. The _motivation_ behind this need for technology was the difference.

Back on Earth, technology was definitely a huge part of life but it wasn't _absolutely_ _essential_, you could (and some still did) survive without technology. But here in Remnant… the advanced tools of humans, the massive constructed barriers and the coordination between Kingdoms were the only thing standing between a relatively safe life for the majority and meeting a grisly end at the hands of a Grimm.

So yeah, when your own life was at stake, one tended to be _much much _more motivated to make technology as good as it could possibly get. The survival mindset from the early days when dust had been first discovered showed even now, in the design of Remnant's technology. The tech was designed to be easily utilised by anyone, while the tech itself was extremely foolproof, I mean... the failsafes had _failsafes_ for Oum's sake.

Breaking into the main server was... surprisingly easy... _Well for me at least_. I mean, when you had enormous processing capabilities on par with a supercomputer and a variety of hacking tools to crack the system, normal anti-hacking measures just wouldn't cut it. On top of that, as an AI of sorts, I was (as a certain light blue AI had said) 'literally made out of numbers", so understanding systems came naturally.

* * *

Outwardly, I was completely still and unmoving, staring with unblinking eyes into space.

_Inwardly, however... _I was playing the equivalent of virtual chess with the defensive programs, _except_ that I had 2 moves to their every 1 move. It wasn't a fair battle. But all was fair in Love and War. _A__nd this was War._

* * *

I smiled and leaned back to rest my head on the back of the chair.

_Checkmate. _

I had managed to convince the code that terminated any foreign objects from the system to treat the defensive programs it was guarding as a foreign object.

So it was now undermining the entire system and causing it to collapse unto itself.

Now what was it Cinder had said...?

"It's not about overpowering an enemy. It's about taking away what power they have." (_With my evil sewing needle! Muahhaha_)

Well, her idea certainly had merit, I mused.

**[Welcome to the Atlas Central Database. Attempts to access restricted files without proper clearance will be logged and reported.]**

I was in. _Time to get some answers_.

**[Search: Project Crimson]**

**[Error. No matches found]**

I enlarged the search parameters to encompass the entire database and tried again.

**[Error. No matches found]**

_Impossible._ I had ensured that I had complete access to the database and any project as major as the one that created me would _surely_ leave some traces.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I tried searching for Penny instead.

**[Penny: The first synthetic being capable of generating aura. Created by Dr Polendina and his team as part of a joint project between Atlas and the Schnee Dust Company to produce a prototype for the Aura Enhancing Generation-Integration System or AEGIS. Unit shows tremendous combat potential due to application of aura. Field shows much promise, however, Dr Polendina is adamant about not rushing the research or producing more units and is unlikely to change his mind.]**

And yet I was here, newly built.

_What had caused him to change his mind?_

I shook my head. There wasn't any use thinking about it, I would find out... eventually.

I tapped my chin thoughtfully.

Could it be the reason that I couldn't find anything was _precisely_ because there was nothing here to find?

I wouldn't put it past the Atlas military or the SDC (Schnee Dust Company) to have stashed their most sensitive secrets in a much more isolated and secure location, kind of like a secret vault of sorts. The absence of any specific test data related to Penny pointed to that as well. As a prototype, Penny's data would definitely be recorded down and stored in order to improve subsequent models, yet the only information on Penny was rather general.

Actually now that I thought it about, it would be surprising if they _didn't_ have a multitude of these, considering the dirty secrets I was sure that the SDC and Atlas would have.

Dirty secrets? I was pretty sure that the Schnee Dust Company had plenty of those if even _Weiss_ had commented on it being in a morally grey area. And then Atlas pretty much went hand-in-hand with the SDC, being the SDC's stronghold of power.

Whelp. Looks like this was all I was going to get out of the system for now.

After creating a connection so I could remotely access the Atlas database anytime, I waved the terminal off before vaulting over and walking towards the exit.

As the doors closed behind me, I disabled the looping I had placed the security camera's on since I had first entered the library.

_I was never there_.

* * *

**Next chapter:** _Long, snow white hair flowed behind her as she lithely dodged the swing, cartwheeling out of the way. Rising into a textbook perfect stance, she parried and countered with a blindingly fast riposte._

* * *

**AN**: Did you guys like the teaser? Hope you enjoyed the chapter! The next chapter may take slightly longer as I will likely focus on my other story for now, then switch back to this one after that chapter is done. Can't neglect either ;D


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